Howarth Timber acts to save building jobs
A BUILDERS merchant is backing a campaign to make home improvements more affordable.
Howarth Timber and Building Supplies, based in Hare Park Lane in Liversedge, is joining forces with the Builders Merchants' Federation (BMF) campaign to Get Britain Building by calling for a VAT cut to 5 per cent.
Construction industry bosses say a reduction in VAT to five per cent will stimulate the building sector and help arrest the alarming rate of job losses, estimated at 450,000 over two years.
They are lobbying the government to make the cut.
Branch manager Phil Barman said: "The Howarth Group fully supports the aims of the BMF for a number of reasons, not just for the sake of our own business.
"The industry is in dire need of support to halt its alarming decline. Without direct and swift assistance many of these jobs will never return - and that has a direct impact on customers, merchants, product manufacturers and tradespeople, as well as on the economy as a whole."
And precedents have been set in EU countries.
In March, EU finance ministers agreed to allow member states to lower VAT rates in labour-intensive local services such as building repair and maintenance.
Mr Barman added: "This industry represents nine per cent of GDP (gross domestic product) and employs around seven million people in the UK, directly or indirectly.
"Howarth Timber and Building Supplies is urging the government to do more to rescue companies, save these jobs, retain our skills and safeguard our considerable investments in the industry."
A leading member of the BMF, Howarth Timber & Building Supplies is part of the Howarth Group, the largest privately-owned timber business in the UK, and employs more than 700 people across its businesses.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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